UK charge stations question

[Midlifecrisis]

Hi. Sorry if this is covered but I can’t find it anywhere. I have only charged at home and at work so far but understand the need to pre condition the battery if charging at a DC charger to get the best rates. But how do I do this if the charger isn’t a Porsche one? I am using My Porsche and was looking at it this evening. The charger shown is likely to be a useful one to me returning home if I need a bit of extra charge, but it is in grey on the map. So is there a way of telling the car that the destination is a charger? I can’t see how to do it in the app. Am I missing something? Or can I do it in the car at some point? Or do I have to cheat and tell it I am going to the Porsche one up the road?

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[4MBN]

The app is rubbish for this. Do it from the car, you can navigate to the EVSE (and as far as Im aware) it will then pre-condition the battery.

I think there has been a recent update for the maps in the car which allows for the above. When you click on the DC icon from the map, you can then find out what the EVSE outputs etc.

I think in the USA you can see more through the app, including the output of the EVSE at locations. I’ve tried mine since seeing the post and I whilst I can search for a local location I know has Instavolt, it doesn’t show on the app. It does in the car.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Thanks. If I send a route from the app, can I then amend it in the car or do I need to do it all from the car? I hope they continue to improve the app as it could be good if this sort of functionality was added

 

[BigBob]

Helpfully, Porsche have taken a lot of the 350kw chargers at porsche centres off the in car satnav. Which means you can't pre-condition your battery on the way to charge up. Which means you can't get close to the promised charge speeds, but you do still pay full whack for using them (i.e. the usage time charge).

They said they'd taken chargers off the car satnav that can't be accessed 24 hours. They do still show up on the Porsche charging app, however.

 

[4MBN]

Thanks. If I send a route from the app, can I then amend it in the car or do I need to do it all from the car? I hope they continue to improve the app as it could be good if this sort of functionality was added

Yes - send to the car and edit from the Nav screen.

 

[tigerbalm]

They said they'd taken chargers off the car satnav that can't be accessed 24 hours.

There are 45 Porsche Centres in the UK. If each had a 24 hour available set of chargers exclusive to Porsche Charging Service card – you'd have a nice Tesla-lite network.

Instead – they've spent the €150k/charger – but put them behind the centre's gates – and its really unclear if they can be used or not by a visiting Taycan. They spent the money but aren't getting the benefit. It really feels like a lost opportunity.

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks. If I send a route from the app, can I then amend it in the car or do I need to do it all from the car? I hope they continue to improve the app as it could be good if this sort of functionality was added

The recent EVSE updates to Nav don't yet feature in the app unfortunately.

Either start with the app or wait until in the car. Select the DC EVSE shown on the map or search for it.

Either use this as your destination or add as a stopover.

As long as the EVSE is recognised as such then preconditioning should initiate and be completed as you reach it (unlikely if only a short distance away).

 

[W1NGE]

There are 45 Porsche Centres in the UK. If each had a 24 hour available set of chargers exclusive to Porsche Charging Service card – you'd have a nice Tesla-lite network.

Instead – they've spent the €150k/charger – but put them behind the centre's gates – and its really unclear if they can be used or not by a visiting Taycan. They spent the money but aren't getting the benefit. It really feels like a lost opportunity.

Some have started relocating their units after realising this school boy error and hopefully access details have been updated to reflect this too.

My dealer has 2 but when I last tried using only one would authenticate with an owner card (!) by design. Not been back to check if this has been corrected.

Now that the Shell garage EVSEs are listed on the Nav I'd likely use these instead - cheaper and always available - and in my case beside the dealers.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Thanks for the answers. I will try it out soon when I get the opportunity.

I do feel that Porsche are trying to be unnecessarily greedy by adding a time related charge to a kWh charge. As above, this could have been a fantastic opportunity to have a network of chargers - any why annoy people by making it more costly? Oh well. Let’s see how it pans out over the next couple of years

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks for the answers. I will try it out soon when I get the opportunity.

I do feel that Porsche are trying to be unnecessarily greedy by adding a time related charge to a kWh charge. As above, this could have been a fantastic opportunity to have a network of chargers - any why annoy people by making it more costly? Oh well. Let’s see how it pans out over the next couple of years

I suspect it's the operator and not Porsche is harvesting these additional charges to fund the not insignificant capital costs involved.

Other 350kW units are out there which charge slightly more per kWh but no additional charge on top. I suspect that when someone in Reading wakes up to this reality they will review the Porsche charging (rip off) model.

 

[BigBob]

There are 45 Porsche Centres in the UK. If each had a 24 hour available set of chargers exclusive to Porsche Charging Service card – you'd have a nice Tesla-lite network.

Instead – they've spent the €150k/charger – but put them behind the centre's gates – and its really unclear if they can be used or not by a visiting Taycan. They spent the money but aren't getting the benefit. It really feels like a lost opportunity.

Absolutely. It's daft.

 

[BigBob]

I suspect it's the operator and not Porsche is harvesting these additional charges to fund the not insignificant capital costs involved.

Isn't this capital cost part of the investment required to launch an EV. Moreover, all of those £300s for having to add folding mirrors (on a car that should have them as standard) needs to be spent on something!

 

[W1NGE]

Isn't this capital cost part of the investment required to launch an EV. Moreover, all of those £300s for having to add folding mirrors (on a car that should have them as standard) needs to be spent on something!

R&D and F1 entry is where that dosh is going.

I think there is more to it than just Porsche (VW) in isolation - including contributions by the dealerships whom I think had to pay for the current arrangements (according to my SE).

 

[gusone]

Setting any EV chargers as destination will trigger the pre condition even if you don't drive there and go to Porsche or anywhere else for that matter. If it's a short ride it will make little difference. The pre heat / cool will raise the battery temperature quicker so set that an hour before you leave. I charge at Porsche every two weeks. I authenticate with the card or the Porsche Charging app. Both work. Staff are friendly and always offer a coffee. It's not all bad out there.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Getting back to the subject here… I tried it out this afternoon. Went to Solihull - put the postcode in and transferred it to the car from the app. Got in the car and worked out that I had to look for charge points close by. The 120kW Instavolt charger wasn’t there. In the end I gave up and selected the Porsche charger about 1 mile away. This pre heated the battery as I drove to the Instavolt charger. I got 63kW for about 30secs which the went up to 120kW. I suppose this is the solution although it is a bit annoying that I couldn’t Locate the charger I wanted to use in the sat nav or the app.

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